At one time all you needed was a high school diploma in order to attain a good occupation. Nowadays, it’s a different story, a college degree is virtually mandatory for any type of good-paying occupation. Alas, college is extremely costly. Even when you attend a state school with discounted in-state tuition, college costs frequently surpass those of autos and houses. Although most families don’t have the funds to ante up for a multi-year college education, assistance is obtainable in the form of a school loan.

The school loan is available in two different flavours. The need-based school loan is for people who need help with paying for an education and are configured to meet part of the educational costs. The non-need based loan helps to pay a share of the family contribution when cash is tight.

For both graduate and undergrad pupils, the Fed Stafford Loan offers up a simple-interest, collateral-free, government secured school loan. While the student remains in school, interest accumulates at a lesser rate. The rate of interest is fixed and doesn’t adjust up or down during this time. Once the Stafford school loan is taken out, there is a rate of interest ceiling that’s imposed. At no time during the lifetime of the loan can the rate of interest rise above this ceiling. When the student leaves school or graduates, they’re afforded a six-month goodwill period before they have to commence repayment of the loan.

The Federal PLUS school loan, or Parent Loan for undergrad Students, is akin to the Stafford loan. Its non-need based, and is also no-collateral, simple interest, and government secured. PLUS loans permit parents of undergraduate students to borrow up to the full amount of college costs, less any fiscal aid, grants, or scholarships. PLUS loans are up to ten years in length and there is no penalisation to prepay the loan in full. Parents can start payment while the student is still registered in school.

These loan options occasionally don’t cover every cent of all college expenses. When there is a gap between loans and true costs, alternate loans may be looked for. A lot of lenders offer up private student loans that are akin to the government student loans. They have low rates, no charges, deferred payment, and multiple repayment choices. A different option is for parents to borrow against their house equity to finance college training.

Although this alternative offers income tax advantages, a home equity loan doesn’t have the same sort of flexibility as federal student loans. For instance, when fiscal hardship arises, federal student loans may be placed in forbearance. Home equity loans cannot. Besides, loans can be consolidated into one student school loan that has adaptable repayment choices. Home equity loans commonly only have one repayment option.


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Student loan consolidation can be used by student or parent borrowers to combine their multiple education loans into one loan with one monthly payment. As any student can take either federal or private student loans, he or she can also take a federal or private consolidation loan to make the education debt more manageable.

Both federal and private student loans offer significant benefits, but federal loans offer borrowers many benefits that don’t come with private loans; for instance: low fixed interest rates, income-based repayment plans, loan forgiveness and deferment options. While some private lenders may offer them too, it usually is associated with some strings attached.

For those reasons, every borrower should always exhaust federal student loans options before considering a private loan. The same advice applies to consolidating student loans - always look at federal consolidation loan first and only if you don’t qualify for a federal loan of it is not the right choice for any reason, and then seek a private consolidation loan.

It is important to remember that a federal student consolidation loan can’t include any private loan. Moreover, if you consolidate your federal student loan into a private consolidation loan, you will lose your federal borrower benefits mentioned above (unless you private lender tries hard to get your business and includes them in the offer).

There are important differences between federal and private student loan consolidation.

First of all, with federal student loan consolidation, you will have a fixed interest rate, while private student loan consolidations are credit-based, which means that your consolidation loan rate will not be locked - it will be variable. So, while you will not have to go through credit check in order to apply for a federal consolidation loan, you will need it to secure a private consolidation loan.

Student loan consolidation rates are determined differently for federal and private consolidations. The interest rates for federal loans are set according to a formula established by federal statue. It’s a fixed rate, based on the weighted average of the interest rates on each of your loans at the time you consolidate, rounded up to the nearest 1/8th of a percent and capped at 8.25%.

As private student loans are not funded by the federal government, they are subject to the terms determined by each individual lender (bank, credit union, other financial institution) and the market competition. In private student consolidation loans a borrower’s credit is the primary factor in the variable interest rate offered to the borrower. As the base for setting the consolidation loan interest rate, the private lenders most often use the Prime rate or the 3-month LIBOR Rate, to which they add a margin. That margin varies from lender to lender and is applied according to the borrower’s credit rating.

With regards to the interest rate on the consolidation loan, it’s typical for both federal and private consolidation loan to include 0.25% rate reduction for automated debit payments.

Repayment of federal student consolidation loans begins within 60 days of the disbursement of the loan, with the payback term ranging from 10 to 30 years, depending on the amount of education debt being repaid and on other debts owned, as well as on the repayment option chosen by the borrower. Private student consolidation loans can also have repayment terms of up to 30 years, although they have fewer repayment options. Usually, repayment begins 30 days from the time your private student consolidation loan is funded.

While the most important factors looked at when deciding about how to consolidate student loans are the interest rates, borrower benefits and the terms of repayment, there are also other significant factors, such as: fees or cost to consolidate, prepayment penalties, loan amount limits, customer service, etc.

There are no fees or application costs whatsoever for processing and providing a federal student consolidation loan. It’s against the law to ask for advance (up-front) fees for arranging a federal education loan or consolidating federal education loans. However, some federal education loans (e.g. the Stafford and PLUS Loans) may require some fees, but they are always deducted from the disbursement check. On the other hand, private lenders may charge fees for application and processing private consolidation loans. Some private lenders charge fees as high as 4% of the principal you owe.

Federal consolidation loan programs don’t require a minimum balance to consolidate student loans; some private lenders require a minimum balance before they consider a borrower’s application for consolidation. That amount varies from lender to lender, but usually is between $5,000-$7,500 in US-issued private education loans.

With both federal private consolidations, there are no penalties for prepayment - all payments in excess of scheduled payments will go directly to principal and that will help to repay your consolidation loan faster.

The application process for consolidation of private student loans differs from the federal consolidation. Sometimes applications for private consolidation loans may be easier to complete (often done online or over the phone). However, it’s worth remembering that federal loans usually have lower interest rates, borrower benefits and better repayment terms than private student loans. Moreover, federal applications for both original loans and consolidation loans require FAFSA, so with the federal consolidation, your application is already partly completed.


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Secured personal loans have a history that dates back to centuries before the advent of modern banks and financial institutions. Even in the ancient times, borrowers were able to draw funds only when the lender was given rights to certain assets. Though a vast change is visible in the lending policy today, the popularity of secured personal loans sees no decline. Though homeowners do have the option to take unsecured personal loans, a majority of the group prefers to have loans the secured way.

Mere apprehension of losing homes through repossession fails to motivate borrowers to change loyalties. At least borrowers who have been regular in credit transactions or had not more than one or two incidences of bad credit will not put their weight for loans without collateral. Loans without collateral or unsecured personal loans do not claim a direct charge on the borrower’s home, but compensate the risk with a very high rate of interest and equally strict terms. Therefore, while the safety of home is ensured, the cost of loan rockets up.

It is obvious that the cost of secured personal loan is lesser because of the lower interest rates and less strict terms. When the loan comes over for repayment, secured personal loans will be easier to repay because of lower cost involved.

The intention of loan providers who try to influence the decision of borrowers to take secured personal loans is often viewed disapprovingly. Lenders prefer secured personal loans because of the lower degree of risk placed by them. People interpret this as the lenders eye on their home. Lenders are in no way interested in repossessing house or any other asset kept as collateral. Since, repossession, maintenance and liquidation put a huge cost on the lender, he would better allow the borrower to himself repay the loan provided. Only in the most extreme of cases when the loan appears to become a bad debt, lenders undertake to repossess collateral.

Consequently, the fears regarding secured personal loans are misplaced.

Advantages of secured personal loans are numerous. Principal among them is the treatment meted out to borrowers who opt for secured personal loans. The preference that the secured personal loan borrowers enjoy is well known. Since the fate of an asset of theirs is on stake through collateral, not many borrowers would take the step to be irregular in repayments. Consequently, the risk involved in secured personal loans is lower. Leniency in other terms is the result of the reduction in risk.

Interest rate, for instance, is the lowest in secured personal loan. Typical APR ranges from 6% to 25%. The interest rate chargeable on any other loan will be much higher. The asset pledged towards collateral helps determine the APR that the borrower has to pay. Home and real estate property commands the lowest APR. Automobiles and title to motor vehicles too command a good interest rate, albeit higher than in homes.

The collateral offered also determines the amount that can be had through secured personal loan. Home presents the safest bet for lenders. Thus, maximum amount will be lent against home. As a rule, the largest amount is offered through secured personal loan . When secured personal loans is offered against home, it is the equity that decides the amount of loan offered. Thus, borrowers planning to use the loan proceeds to huge expense heads like debt consolidation, home improvement and car purchase will be benefited more through a secured personal loan.

Though the repayment options presented to the borrowers of secured personal loans are no different from that available to the unsecured loans borrowers, repayment is a relatively smoother journey for the former category of borrowers. Most lenders will make the terms of repayment flexible enough to suit borrowers. Some loan providers have deployed experts to educate borrowers about the various options that are available to them for loan repayment. The method used for disbursal of loan will be suggested after gaining a proper knowledge of the borrowers financial condition. A proper study indicates if the borrowers’ finances will be able to support the repayment method and the loan itself.

Secured personal loan  do have a few drawbacks. Proper decisions and accurate planning on secured personal loan  however minimise the impact produced by these drawbacks.


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